Reflections of Crystal Tokyo
by Misha
Summary: The Senshi reflects a hundred years into Crystal Tokyo when Endymion and Serenity's marriage begins to fall apart. Not for diehard SerenaDarien fans.
1. Nothing Lasts Forever

Reflections of Crystal Tokyo   
By Misha 

Disclaimer- Oh, come on! Anyone who knows anything about Sailor Moon knows that I do NOT own the series or anything in them. Naoko Takeuchi has that pleasure, not me. I wish I did, but I don't. I'm also not making any money off using them in this story so please don't sue me.   
Author's Notes- Okay, this is the second draft of this story. I wasnÕt happy with the first one, so I rewrote it. First of all, I use the NA names because it felt right. Secondly, this is set in the 31st century, so about a century after they visit in Sailor Moon R. This is from Neo-Queen Serenity's POV. I'm a Serena and Darien fan, really I am, but I got this idea and couldn't resist. So, die-hard Serena/Darien fans this probably isnÕt for you. It's kind of weird and is one of the first Sailor Moon fanfics I ever wrote. You've been warned. 

_

Nothing lasts forever,   
And we both know hearts can change,   
And it's hard to hold a candle,   
In the cold November rain.   
- Guns 'N Roses, November Rain

_

**Part One**: _Nothing Lasts Forever_

I never knew love could die. I thought that if it was true it lasted forever, but now I know better. Nothing lasts forever. If anyone knows that it's me, us. 

I loved you so much once, but now... If anyone had told me a thousand years ago that we would one day grow to despise each other I would never have believed them. 

Even a hundred years ago when I was already the queen of Crystal Tokyo and you were my king I would have laughed at the thought of our love not lasting forever. 

But it didn't. In time it withered away and died. I now dread seeing you, the man I once went out of my way to be with. 

For so long our love was so strong, but then it weakened and eventually died. But even though the happy times are long gone, I still remember them. 

I remember the love you and I once shared, Endymion. But it's gone now. I don't love you, I really don't. I still don't really believe it. 

We were destined to be in love and there was a time nothing could keep us a apart, but now... 

The weird thing is that I still love Prince Endymion of the Silver Millennium, Tuxedo Mask, Darien Chiba, and even King Endymion of the early days of Crystal Tokyo. I just don't love the Endymion you are now. I suppose that you feel the same. That you'll always love the women I used to be, just not the one I am today. 

I'm several people in one. I share the memories of so many different women who each played a part in who I am today. 

Princess Serenity and her eternal love for her prince are still with me. Sometimes when I take a stroll in the royal gardens, like I am now, I look at the moon and it all comes rushing back to me. I feel as if I'm still a 16 year old princess experiencing her first love. That love was so pure, so innocent. It never had the chance to be corrupted, to wither and die as my love for you in the time did. 

Then there's Serena Tsukino and her first taste of love. When I look at our daughter, our darling Small Lady, it takes me right back to the first time I saw her. I feel like I'm still the Meatball-Headed 14 year old girl falling in love with the last guy I ever thought I would. Her love for you, or Darien, was different from the love that Serenity had for Prince Endymion because it had withstood more, but it was still as innocent. They married and had a beautiful daughter, and their love just grew stronger. 

Then there's Sailor Moon and her love for her protector. Tuxedo Mask would have saved her from anything, he had numerous times. He was her hero, her protector. When I see a rose in the garden it brings me back to those days, to the days when I had a hero in a mask who was there when I needed him. 

Then there's me, or rather the me I was a century ago. I am still Neo-Queen Serenity, but I am different than I once was. When I first became queen my love for you was still as pure as it always had been, it had not yet crumbled. 

But it did. Eventually things changed. We changed so much that we could never again be who we were. 

I wish things could be different, I wish I could look at you and feel something other than a little bit of affection for what was. But I can't. 

Love eventually withers and dies, even the kind that was meant to be. Don't get me wrong. Our love was great while it lasted, and it lasted a long time. It just eventually burnt out. 

All things come to an end one day, even the love of a princess and her prince. 

As I sit here in my garden I pick a rose. The rose reminds me of what we shared. A rose is beautiful while it lasts, but eventually it dies. All things do. 

You told me that. It was a long time ago, and I almost forgot it, but you said the words. "Our love is like a rose. When it's in bloom, it's very beautiful, but it eventually wilts and dies." 

I should have listened to you then. 

This is so confusing, I set out to say one thing and got so clouded with memories that I ended up saying another entirely. 

The memories hit me harder than I thought they would. 

Your Once Loving Wife,   
Serenity   
*** 


	2. Faded Roses

Reflections of Crystal Tokyo   
By Misha 

Author's Notes- Okay, this is from King Endymion's POV as he thinks about the past and the love that eventually died. Like, the first part this is the second draft. I still donÕt know how I feel about this story, but I decided to salvage it. Like the first part, this is also a letter, but unlike the first part who the letter is addressed to isnÕt obvious until the end. 

**Part Two****: _Faded Roses_ **

Serenity was right, every word was true. 

Love can die, and ours has. I never thought it would happen. I thought that once I found my princess we'd be together forever, but nothing lasts forever. 

Her words hit me hard because I never realised that she was as unhappy as I am. But she is. 

Actually, I don't know if unhappy is the word I would have used to describe what I feel. Discontent is more like it. All the love in our marriage has gone, now all that is left is the memory of what we shared and some affection because of those memories. 

She'll always be my princess and my Meatball Head, but no longer does she have my heart. No, that's not completely true either. 

Princess Serenity will always be Prince Endymion's only love. Serena will always be the girl that taught Darien how to love. Sailor Moon will always have her spot in Tuxedo Mask's heart. Even Neo-Queen Serenity will always have her place in my heart. Not as she is now, but as she was a hundred years ago. 

I loved her so much, when I almost lost her I thought I would die. I always love those sides of her, but who she is now I don't love. Not the way I did. 

As I sit here in the royal rose garden, surrounded by the roses we both love so much, I think back to the past and to the women I loved. 

Princess Serenity was young, beautiful, and innocent. She never got to grow into a woman. She is forever a 16 year-old girl who knows only the joy of love and nothing of the heartbreak. She had only experienced the upside of love, as had her prince. 

Prince Endymion was the more mature of the two, but when with his princess he was almost as blinded by love as she. I envy that innocence, and feel strangely content when I am brought back to those days. 

Like Serenity, looking at the moon does it. It brings me back to The Moon Kingdom and two young lovers who thought that their love would last forever. 

Serena was similar to Princess Serenity. She too was an innocent child, yet she grew to understand the down side of love. Yet she never gave up, she just kept believing one day that she and her Darien would be together again. She was right, of course. 

She was the first real family he ever had. She brought love into his previously empty life and he let her. They completed each other. 

It doesn't take much to bring me back to those days, but most often it's the mention of meatballs that does it. My Meatball Head. 

Sailor Moon was different from Serena even though they were the same time. Tuxedo Mask could love her and protect her without really having to get involved. It was a strange relationship, but it worked. 

The last woman who will be in my heart forever is Neo-Queen Serenity. I can't really put what I felt for her into words because I don't know how. 

I do know how our love faded. We each had out own duties and responsibilities and we began to spend less and less time together. Eventually it was over. 

She knows it and I know it, but we haven't fully admitted yet. because even if there's no real affection now, there once was. If we divorce we'll be leaving what we shared behind and neither of us is ready to do that. 

I'm surrounded by roses at this moment and I pick a few. Each rose that I picked is a different colour. There are five in all. 

The white one is for Princess Serenity, my pure and innocent love. 

The red one is for Sailor Moon in memory of Tuxedo Mask and his red rose. 

The pink one is for Serena because they were her favourite. They also suit her because they're as tender and beautiful as she was. 

The Yellow one is for Neo-Queen Serenity, because she was the bright yellow sunshine in my life. She always will be. 

And the last? A silver rose, a special flower bred here at The Crystal Palace. It's for all four women and the woman they've become. 

She said it best when she compared our love to a rose. It is. It was beautiful and strong while it lasted, but eventually everything fades away. 

I told her that once. She too remembered the words I had said to her a life time ago, how fitting they are. It was when I was being haunted by those dreams, I told her: "our love is like a rose. When it's in bloom, it's very beautiful, but it eventually wilts and dies." I was right, I was lying, but I was right. 

I only now realise that. 

Ser, I haven't called her that in so long, will always be in my heart. But she no longer is my heart. All love dies, all things come to an end, and all roses fade away. 

We're no exception, we just lasted longer than everything else. It took a bit longer to realise it and I don't think we've fully accepted yet. Because all though we both know it's gone, neither of us wants to let go of the love we shared. 

Neither of us wants to accept that our rose has faded. You included I do believe. 

I can imagine how hard this must be on you, to see us the way we are now. Especially since you remember the way we were a thousand years ago before Tokyo even became Crystal Tokyo. 

I'm sorry for putting you though this and I know she is too. That's why I'm writing this to explain, because you deserve that. 

Serenity was right about something else too, the memories did hit harder than I thought they would. 

I didn't think it would be this painful to think about it after so long, but it is. 

Forever Your Loving father,   
Endymion   
*** 


	3. All Things Come To An End

Reflections of Crystal Tokyo   
By Misha 

Author's Notes- This part is from Raye's POV as she thinks about the past and the love that eventually died. I think I'm going to write a chapter for all the senshi as they reflect on the end of Serenity and Endymion's love, because it effects them to. That's it, Enjoy. Like Faded Roses, itÕs hard to tell who the letter is addressed to, but you might be able to guess. 

**Part Three**: _All Things Come to An End_

I was there when Serenity met Endymion, we both were. We were there when they died together at the fall of The Moon Kingdom. We were there when Serena and Darien fell in love. We were at their wedding. We saw the way Sailor Moon would act when Tuxedo Mask would rescue her. We were there for the birth of their daughter. We saw the creation of Crystal Tokyo. We wee there for all their important moments. I just can't believe that I've lived to see the end of a once perfect love story, can you? 

It really was perfect once, wasnÕt it? 

It even began with a once upon a time in a land a long time ago. There was a beautiful princess and a handsome prince. They even fell in love at first sight, remember? 

The story is like the fairy tales we read when we were little. Their love was so strong that it over came death, twice. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. That last night, when we all watched them dance I cried for them both. I knew what was to come. Even then the fire told me what would happen. 

I knew that Serenity and Endymion's beautiful love would come to a tragic end, just as our lovely kingdom would. 

When we were all reborn and they fell in love again at first I was jealous. I had feelings for Darien, but I soon realised that they were nothing compared to the ones Serena had. They truly were destined to be together. 

I moved on and fell in love with Chad. 

I really was lucky, in my lifetime I've had the love of two great men. Jadeite was the first, and then there was Chad. 

I do miss him, it seems unfair that I'll live for so much longer than he got to. But the Silver Imperial Crystal increased the life span of only the senshi and their kin, it did not do so for their lovers or husbands. 

I'm not complaining, I'm really not. Chad and I had a happy marriage and two beautiful children, now I'm married to Jadeite, who I believe is my soul mate. He has to be, or otherwise we wouldn't have found our way back to each other like we did once he had been freed from the Crystal Beryl put him in and restored to the man he had been during The Silver Millennium. I wonder if our love will die like Serenity and Endymion's did. 

I've gotten off topic, back to them. 

Their love was so powerful and so beautiful that it over came so much. If their story is a fairy tale then the next scene would be obvious, isnÕt it? They married, had their beautiful daughter, and then went on to rule Crystal. 

The only difference between this story and a fairy tale is that they didn't stay happily ever after. 

I do believe that she still loves him as he used to be and that it's the same for him, it's only their current themselves that the love has died for. 

Serenity will love her prince for eternity. Serena's heart will always belong to her Muffin, (remember how we used to laugh when she referred to him that way) and Darien's to his Meatball Head. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask's love is a rose that will never die. And King Endymion of a century ago will forever love his beautiful queen and vice versa. 

It is only their current selves that are no longer in love. 

In Serenity's letter to Endymion, which she asked me to read before she gave it to him, she compared their love to a rose, just like he had centuries ago. I believe that they were right. All things fade in time. 

I worry about my own marriage at times. If their love can die, what will happen to mine and Jadeite's? I believe eventually it to will die, and that saddens me. 

But Ser is right, nothing lasts forever. 

All things come to an end, and this is the end of a love story that spanned two thousand years. 

It's the end of a legend, of a story that I thought would never end. But I was wrong. All things come to an end, and this is no exception. 

I don't know why I'm writing to to you, we've never been that close, certainly not as close as we both are to Serenity. But maybe it's because you always were the practical one of us and I wanted you to give me some sort of reason why it ended like this. 

Or maybe it's just because you were there to and you saw how much they once loved each other, and I needed someone to confide in. 

I don't know, all I know is that writing this helped. Thank you Amy. 

Your Friend and Fellow Senshi,   
Raye   
*** 


	4. Even Love Dies

Reflections of Crystal Tokyo   
By Misha 

Author's Notes- This is the next in the series, it's from Amy's POV as she too reflects on the past and a love that eventually died. Like Raye and EndymionÕs parts, IÕm not sure how obvious the receiver of the letter is until the end, but I kind of intended that way. Anyway, enjoy. 

**Part Four**: _Even Love Dies_

Raye's letter hit home, because I too never believed this was possible. I thought that Serenity and Endymion would love each other forever. 

It was a perfect love story, but I guess there's no such thing as a perfect ending. Because if there was it would be they who got it. 

The story seems so wonderful, so ideal. Beautiful princess, handsome prince, and a love that survived so much. Only the ending is lacking, everything else is perfect. But the ending leaves so much to be desired. 

In Serenity's letter, Endymion showed it to me, she said that a hundred years ago she wouldn't have believed that her love for Endymion would die. I don't think any of us would have. I think we all honestly believed that they would be together forever, didnÕt we? They were Endymion and Serenity, our Prince and Princess, and later our King and Queen. 

I'm the practical one of the group, and yet I may have been the most crushed to learn the outcome of their relationship. I always had so many hopes and dream invested in them. I truly believed that they were the ideal couple, and for a while they were. 

For two thousands years they lived for each other, then it all ended. I think that maybe it was meant to have ended, but it still saddens me. 

However, during those years they were supremely happy together. I will always remember them the way they were. I think we all will. 

When I think about Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion I'll think of a young love that never got the chance to blossom into full bloom, yet will always be perfect and beautiful. Like a rosebud. 

I think of Serena and Darien as a more mature love that survived even the toughest fight. But it still had some of the innocence of first love. 

For Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon, I think of a love built on mutual respect and hard work, yet dreams and hopes. Their love was safe from the realities of everyday life. 

And lastly there's Kind Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity. There love was as pure as the Silver Imperium Crystal, and as strong as steel. It was a strong, mature love built on years of trust and working together. There was none of the innocence that existed in the Moon Kingdom. 

It's sad to think that those people no longer love each other, but then again they do. 

She'll always love the men from her past. Her handsome prince from a life long gone. Her masked protector from the days when she was little more than a child. Her first love who grew to be the man she'd eventually marry. And her husband, king, and friend from the beginning of her kingdom. Her love for those men has never wavered through all the years since their time together. 

In the same way there'll always be places in his heart for the woman who touched it and all claimed it for their own at one time or another. His beautiful princess from a time long ago, who haunted his dreams and called to him from the past. The beautiful warrior who captured his heart and tested his loyalty to his princess. His first love, the woman who taught him how to love and be loved. And the beautiful queen whom he loved more than anything. His love for those woman stayed in his heart even after that chapter of his life came to a close. 

In a way I think of all this as a book, just like Raye compared it to a fairy tale with an unsatisfactory ending. 

In the first chapter they meet as a prince and a princess in a long ago land. They fall in love, but before they can get their happily ever after they're killed and they're world ceases to exist. But her mother, the good and gentle queen, sends them all into the future to give them another chance. 

In the next chapter they're reborn again as normal people who have no memory of what happened a millennium before, or each other. But they meet up again. Yet, it's hardly love at first sight. While they're arguing like crazy, they each discover a secret identity. She's a sailor scout who stands for love and justice, and he's a masked man in a tuxedo and top hat who saves her whenever she's in danger. 

The third chapter has them eventually revealing their secret identity's to each other, but then he's capture by the enemy and turned against her. She manages to turn him good again, but he dies and leaves her again. She then fights her toughest battle and wins, but she too dies. 

In the next chapter they've gone back to their normal lives with no memory of what happened. She eventually gets her memory back, but he doesn't yet. She tries to remind him of what they shared, but he can't remember any of it. Another super hero comes into her life. This one dressed in flowing Arabian robes and carrying a sword. He is revealed to be another side of her beloved and eventually rejoins himself, returning his memories. 

That's where the next chapter begins. They start out together, but he has dreams of her impending death and breaks things off to save her life. A pink haired little girl falls into their life, and is later revealed to be their future daughter. By the end of the chapter they've reunited. 

The next couple chapters tell about their struggles as a couple and their eventual engagement then marriage. 

Then there's the chapter focusing on a King and his Queen. They live in a beautiful place called Crystal Tokyo that is reminiscent of the life they once lead in a time that is all but forgotten. They're happy and still as in love as ever. 

Yet, in the next and final chapter that love has wilted away, leaving only memories of what was. In the end their love no longer exists the way it once did. 

I know that you know all this and that this letter isn't like me. I'm not normally one for gushing romance, but I couldn't help it. 

That's why I wrote to you, the senshi of love. If anybody was to understand what I'm trying to say, what I feel, it would be you. 

I just needed to get all this out. 

Your Friend and Fellow Senshi,   
Amy 

P.S- Maybe one day, if Ser doesn't mind, I'll write that book.   
*** 


	5. Everything Ends Sometime

Reflections of Crystal Tokyo   
By Misha 

Author's Notes- This one is from Mina's POV as she writes a letter to an old friend about the past and a love that eventually died. Like all except the first one, itÕs hard to tell who the letter is addressed to. ThatÕs because when I first wrote these stories, I intended the receiver to be a surprise and I couldnÕt really change that without changing the stories completely, which I didnÕt want to do. Anyway, enjoy. 

**Part Four**: _Everything Ends Sometime_

I never thought it would end this way. 

None of us did, but I feel that somehow I failed. I'm the senshi of love, I should have tried harder to keep them together. 

But realistically I know that nothing could keep their love for dying. The time came for it to end. It's just so sad. 

Amy's letter surprised me, I guess I didn't think she could be so flowing and romantic, but maybe this situation is getting to her. It's certainly getting to the rest of us, isnÕt it? 

I look at the pictures on my coffee table and each seems to represent a different time. There's a picture Setsuna produced for us of us all on the moon. Serenity and Endymion are looking into each other's eyes, and the rest of us are with our respective lovers. The next picture is of Tuxedo Mask and the Sailor Scouts. Again they're together, his arm wrapped around her waist. The next picture is of their wedding, a beautiful bride, a handsome groom and their wedding party. The last picture was taken soon after Crystal Tokyo was created. It's of the king, queen, and their guardians. 

How perfect they look in all those pictures, as if they were made for each other. Maybe they were, once. 

"There is a time for everything," that line from The Bible is sticking in my head. Maybe it's time for them to part, maybe this is the final act. They've gone from young lovers in a magical kingdom to a king and queen ruling a quite different kingdom. It's been a long road, and maybe this is the last stop. Maybe this is where it all ends. 

I just assumed that they would get a romantic ending, so like the rest of their tale. But maybe this is more fitting. You'd have expected the romantic ending, nobody would have ever dreamed that it would end with their love dying and ceasing to exist. 

But that's not true. It still exists, it will just no longer grow. They'll love the people they were, just not the people they are. 

I know this isn't very long, and not nearly as flowing and romantic as Amy's, but I couldn't think of anything else. Amy said it all. It's surprising that Amy wrote the romantic letter and I wrote a short, practical one. 

But maybe it shows how much we've all changed in the years since we first met. But deep now I'm still the same old Mina, and I know that you're still Lita. 

It's just that so much has changed, nothing stays the same. 

Your Friend,   
Mina   
*** 


	6. Ruins of Yesterday

Reflections of Crystal Tokyo   
By Misha 

Author's Notes- This one is from LitaÕs PoV. 

**Part Six**: _Ruins of Yesterday_

I always wished for what she had. Even after I found love and married I wanted what she had. 

I would have given my life for the love Serenity and Endymion shared. Okay, I know that sounds really selfish considering I've been married twice, and to two men I loved deeply. 

Still, it was nothing compared to what they shared once. Which makes me wonder if that's what my marriage will become. Empty, cold, meaningless. 

I've read or heard about all the letters, I think we all have. Serenity spoke of what was and a love that she compared to a rose. Endymion reflected on what Serenity had said and the women he had loved at various times in his long life. Raye reflected on a fairy tale that didn't end in happily ever after, the end of a legend, and her fears for her own marriage. Amy spoke in flowing, romantic terms and compared their story to a novel which ends with the dying of a love and the putting away of the past. Mina spoke of pictures of a time gone by, of images that forever capture the past. 

And me? This letter's different than the others because I'm not going to reflect on what was. 

During The Silver Millennium Serenity and Endymion were deeply in love. Tuxedo Mask was Sailor Moon's hero. Darien and Serena were an adorable couple who were very much in love. In the beginning of Crystal Tokyo Serenity and Endymion were the happiest I've ever seen them. 

But that's not what I'm writing about. I'm going to focus on the present, not the past. 

I'm terrified that me and my husband will become what they are. They can't stand to be in each other's company. They don't hate each other, maybe it would be better if they did. They're empty, hollow. 

The past has left them behind and they have never caught up. 

I see the fake smile she reserves for him, the one that has replaced the glowing smile she used to get when she was with him. I've seen the empty look in his eyes when he looks at her, the look that replaced the look of complete love and devotion. 

I know that I said that I would concentrate on the present, but I can't. I feel I must talk about the past. I'm writing this to get it out, and the only way for me to do that is for me to go through it all. Or at least the parts that stick out to me. 

It was a long journey, and a lot of things changed. Especially them. 

The Moon Kingdom seems like a dream now rather than a reality. It was a time when life was perfect and the whole universe was united in peace. 

Sometimes when I look at Serenity now I see her the way she was the night she and Endymion first met. 

Endymion compared her to a beautiful and delicate rose that night. Ironic, huh? On their first meeting he called her a rose that would last for eternity, and now two thousand years later she compared the love that began that night to a wilted rose of yesterday. 

Even then I was boy crazy, always on the look out for a cute guy, but I knew form the first meeting that he was Serenity's and no one elses. That's my most vivid memory of them. The look they shared when Queen Serenity first introduced them. It was as this was what they had been searching for their entire lives, and maybe it was. 

I don't remember much else of the Moon Kingdom, it was a long time ago, but I'll remember that. I'll always remember the moment this whole story began. 

It seems so unreal to me that I'm standing in the ruins of something I saw being built. It's like when we visited the ruins of The Moon Kingdom back before we defeated Beryl, except we were only there in it's glory, we never saw it created. But I did see Serenity and Endymion's love being built and I saw it come crashing downs. Where there was once a beautiful, now there is only shadows of the past, ruins of a past we just can't seem to put behind us. 

The full moon shines behind me and I'm reminded of days gone by. I'm also reminded of an old song by The Goo Goo Dolls. They were band back in the 1990Õs, remember them? Anyway I'm listening to it right now. It's called Full Forever and there's one line. "Why can't the moon stay full forever?" Why couldn't their moon stay full forever? Why didn't there love for all of time? 

This letter is so unlike me and I'm going to stop here. I have to, I can't put down the rest of what I'm feeling. It's too mixed up. 

You wouldn't understand, at least not the ways the other Inners would. We were there for all of it, you only saw bits and pieces. 

That's why I'm writing to you. I needed to talk to someone who wasn't there, who didn't see it all begin and end. Someone to listen while I vented. 

Thank you Haruka for doing that. 

Your fellow senshi,   
Lita   
*** 


	7. Knowing What Can't Change

Reflections of Crystal Tokyo   
By Misha 

Author's Notes- This is the next part and it's from Setsuna's POV. I've decided that she's the only Outer Senshi that I'm going to include, because she's the one that it's easiest for me to write. Also, this is the only story in which I use the original names, because I'll never be able to think of her as Trista. Anyway, after this I only have one more left, Rini. Oh, and the song quote I use is from Dust In The Wind by Kansas. That's it, Enjoy. 

**Part Seven**: _Knowing What You Can't Change_

I knew this would happen. And I hate the fact that I knew. 

I would give anything to not be me, to not be the guardian of time. It's so lonely, I'll be forever alone. 

But that's the worst part is knowing what will happen and not being able to stop it. 

I knew long before it happened that The Moon Kingdom would fall, but I couldn't do anything about it. I was forced to be silent even though I knew that people I loved would die, and that I could do nothing to stop it. 

There were so many other times I cursed my destiny, my inability to do anything about things I knew would happen. 

When Endymion's parents died. I watched from my time gate with tears in my eyes, but I didn't do anything. I knew that the parents had to die and the child had to lose his memories. Just like the fall of The Moon Kingdom, it had been mapped out long before it happened. 

The next time that I wanted to change what I knew would happen was when Endymion was kidnapped by the nega-verse, the Princess' tears tore at my heart. I wished more than anything to stop them from coming, but I knew I couldn't. 

Then there was those damned dreams. I knew that Endymion was sending them to his past self, and I wanted to stop him, but I couldn't. 

It's not my place to interfere with destiny. I can't. I have to let it be. 

Now this. 

Now the end of a marriage I wanted to believe would last forever, but I knew it wouldn't. 

Who knows that nothing lasts forever better than me? 

But even though I had the most time to prepare for it, I believe it's hitting me the hardest. 

I love him. I've always loved him, but I knew he was never meant to be mine. They were destined to be together, just like they're destined to part now. 

Maybe they are, after all nothing lasts forever. I've always known that. 

I think Serenity said something similar. 

It's still so hard to believe. I don't want to believe it, but I must. We all must. 

It's over, after over two thousand years Serenity and Endymion's love has died out. 

The dream has died always and there's nothing left. 

An old song says it well: 'I close my eyes, only for a moment; And the moment's gone; All my dreams pass before my eyes; A curiosity; Dust in the wind, all they are is; Dust in the wind.' 

That's all that's left of a once insurmountable love, dust in the wind. 

I knew it would happen, I wished it wouldn't, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I do wish I had. 

Thank you dear Mars for lending an ear, I know you love them too and that this is hurting as well. I also know that deep down you too love him, but knew he could never be ours. 

So for us this hurts even more. 

Sincerely,   
Setsuna   
*** 


	8. No Longer A Fairy Tale

Reflections of Crystal Tokyo   
By Misha 

Author's Notes- This is the last in my series. It's Rini's POV as she writes a letter to her mother about the past and her confusion over a love that eventually died. Like the first part, this is the only part where it's obvious who the letter is addressed to. Mainly because it would have been impossible to write it any other way. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the series even if it is slightly strange. 

**Part Eight**: _No Longer a Fairy Tale_

Nothing lasts forever. 

All things come to an end. 

Hearts change, people change. 

Time changes everything. 

I know all this. I've always known this, but it's so hard to face. 

My parents, the two people I love most in the world, are no longer in love. I never thought I'd see that happen, after all I'd always been raised to believe in fairy tales and happily ever afters. 

You taught me that. 

You taught me that a long time ago when you used to read me to sleep a night. I remember when you used to tell me about you and Daddy and life during The Silver Millennium. 

You made it seem so perfect, what happened? What changed between the two of you? 

I remember when I was younger and I went back to the 20th Century, you guys were so much in love. It was kind of gross actually. 

But it was also perfect. 

Still, I know that it hasn't been that way for a long time. 

Why? Why did it change? Why did it stop being a fairy tale? 

I loved the fairy tale, it was so perfect. That's what you guys symbolised for me when I was growing up. I had faith that you two would be in love forever, but you're not. 

So what can I have faith in? 

The only thing that I know will never change is the past. In my memories I hold a perfect picture of Serena and Darien. They were so in love. 

But so were the parents I remembered from my childhood. When I was a little girl you guys were just as in love. 

What went wrong? Will I ever know? 

Daddy compared it to roses in his letter, and so did you. It was beautiful and strong while it lasted, but eventually everything fades away. 

Daddy said that to you once, didn't he? When I visited you guys the first time? When I was only a child. I think I remember hearing about that, he said "our love is like a rose. When it's in bloom, it's very beautiful, but it eventually wilts and dies." 

I guess he was right. But why did the rose have to die? Or do all things have to die in the end? 

There are so many questions I need answers to and so little answers. 

I just needed to get this all out. 

I know that you and Daddy need an end to all this. But what will it be? Divorce? Or something else? 

I only wish it didn't have to end like this. But I guess I'm biased. In a way I'm still a little 5 year old at heart, I want my parents to live happily ever after. Even though I know it won't happen. 

I know this is hard on you too and I love you. 

You're Loving Daughter,   
Rini 

The End 


End file.
